Tightness testing system for a cable gland feed-through of a partition in particular of an immersible electrical connector

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a system for testing the tightness of a cable gland feed-through of a partition, in particular of an immersible electrical connector, of the type including a cable gland body in which a seal and a cable gland rammer for compressing the seal are placed, characterized in that it includes a tightness testing ring inserted in the seal and provided with a bore opposite a hole of the cable gland body opening on same, and provided with a connection to a pressure/vacuum source for testing the tightness of the cable gland.

The present invention relates to a system for testing the tightness of a cable gland feed-through of a partition, such as an immersible electrical connector.

Sealing means are known generally for these applications, from documents FR 1 176 294 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,307, for example.

Such connectors may be constituted by connectors commonly referred to as “DRYM connectors”, for example.

Such connectors are used, for example, to connect offshore wind turbines to an electricity distribution network.

Of course, other uses of these connectors can be envisaged.

In particular, this type of connector comprises a partition for the passage of elongated elements such as cables, fibers or others, the sealing of which is ensured by a gland.

The connector thus comprises a cable gland body in which sealing means are placed and a cable gland rammer enabling these sealing means to be compressed around the body passing through the partition, in order to obtain the tightness desired.

Nowadays, the tightness of the sealing means assembly and of the cable gland(s) of such connectors is checked, for example, by using a helium tightness test.

For this purpose, the connector's sealed enclosure is evacuated, then helium is sprayed on the areas to be inspected, and finally the tightness rate is analyzed by mass spectrometry.

Such a method requires extremely heavy equipment that must be handled by highly qualified operators.

As each connector must be checked individually, these operations also show a significant cost and additional time in the connector qualification process.

The object of the invention is therefore to solve these problems by providing a testing system that is reliable, easy and quick to implement and inexpensive in terms of money and time.

To this end, the object of the invention is a tightness testing system for a cable gland feed-through of a partition, in particular of an immersible electrical connector, of the type comprising a cable gland body in which sealing means and a cable gland rammer for compressing the sealing means are placed for compressing the sealing means, characterized in that it comprises a tightness testing ring inserted in the sealing means and provided with a hole opposite a hole in the gland body opening same and provided with connection means to a pressure/vacuum source for testing the tightness of the cable gland.

According to other features of the system according to the invention, taken alone or in combination:

-   -   the sealing means have the shape of a deformable sleeve;     -   the sealing means comprise a stack of V-shaped annular seals         mounted head to tail and in that the test ring is inserted into         this stack of annular seals;     -   the hole of the cable gland body opens transversely on the         latter;     -   the hole in the cable gland body comprises a connection at its         end;     -   the testing ring is a metal ring.

The invention will be better understood upon reading the following description, given solely by way of example, and made with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a side sectional view of a partition, in particular of an immersible electrical connector equipped with a tightness testing system according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged scale view of a part of this partition, and

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of a test ring forming part of a system according to the invention.

These figures illustrate a tightness testing system for a cable gland feed-through of a partition, such as an immersible electrical connector.

This partition is designated for example by the general reference 1 on these figures and in particular on FIG. 1.

For clarity, the rest of the connector is not shown in these figures.

The partition is provided with at least one waterproof cable gland feed-through of one or more elongated bodies, such as electrical cables, fibers or the like.

In the example, two cable glands are illustrated in this FIG. 1 and are designated by references 2 and 3.

In effect, the or each cable gland in the partition then comprises a cable gland body, designated by reference 4 in FIG. 2 for cable gland 2, in which sealing means designated by general reference 5 are placed.

These sealing means have the general shape of a deformable sleeve comprising, for example, a stack of V-shaped annular seals, mounted head to tail, one after the other.

The cable gland, for example 2, also includes a cable gland rammer designated by general reference 6 in this FIG. 2, allowing the sealing means to be compressed around the body passing through the partition, in order to ensure the tightness of this passage.

As shown in particular in these FIGS. 2 and 3, the test system according to the invention comprises a tightness testing ring, designated by general reference 7 in these Figures, which is inserted in the sealing means of the cable gland.

In effect, the test ring is inserted into the stack of annular seals of these means, as previously described.

This test ring comprises a radial bore designated by general reference 8, facing a radial hole 9 of the cable gland body, opening on same and provided with connection means to a pressure/vacuum source for testing the tightness of the cable gland.

These connection means have any suitable structure and are designated by general reference 10 in this FIG. 2, for example for cable gland 2.

The test ring may be a metal or other ring for example and the hole 9 of the cable gland body can lead transversally to same, as shown.

Thus, the connection means 10 enable the cable gland to be connected to a source of pressurized air, for example, to ensure the quality of the tightness by monitoring the development of the pressure applied to same.

For example, the cable gland tightness may be considered acceptable if there is no drop in pressure for ten minutes, for example.

Of course, other embodiments of this system may also be considered. 

1. A tightness testing system for a cable gland feed-through of a partition, in particular of an immersible electrical connector, of the type comprising a cable gland body (4) in which sealing means (5) are placed and a cable gland rammer (6) for compressing the sealing means, the system comprising a sealing testing ring (7) inserted in the sealing means (5) and provided with a hole (8) opposite a hole (9) in the gland body opening onto the hole in the gland body and provided with means (10) for connection to a pressure/vacuum source, enabling testing of the sealing of the gland.
 2. The testing system according to claim 1, wherein the sealing means (5) have the form of a deformable sleeve.
 3. The testing system according to claim 2, wherein the sealing means (5) comprise a stack of V-shaped annular seals mounted head-to-tail one after the other and wherein the test ring (7) is inserted into this stack of annular seals.
 4. The testing system according to claim 1, wherein the hole (9) of the gland body opens transversely onto the same.
 5. The testing system according to claim 1, wherein the hole (9) of the gland body has a connector (10) at an end of the hole in the gland body.
 6. The testing system according to claim 1, wherein the testing ring is a metal ring.
 7. The testing system according to claim 2, wherein the hole of the gland body opens transversely onto the same.
 8. The testing system according to claim 3, wherein the hole of the gland body opens transversely onto the same.
 9. The testing system according to claim 2, wherein the hole (9) of the gland body has a connector at an end of the hole in the gland body.
 10. The testing system according to claim 3, wherein the hole (9) of the gland body has a connector at an end of the hole in the gland body.
 11. The testing system according to claim 4, wherein the hole (9) of the gland body has a connector at an end of the hole in the gland body.
 12. The testing system according to claim 7, wherein the hole (9) of the gland body has a connector at an end of the hole in the gland body.
 13. The testing system according to claim 8, wherein the hole of the gland body has a connector at an end of the hole in the gland body.
 14. The testing system according to claim 2, wherein the testing ring is a metal ring.
 15. The testing system according to claim 3, wherein the testing ring is a metal ring.
 16. The testing system according to claim 4, wherein the testing ring is a metal ring.
 17. The testing system according to claim 5, wherein the testing ring is a metal ring.
 18. The testing system according to claim 7, wherein the testing ring is a metal ring.
 19. The testing system according to claim 8, wherein the testing ring is a metal ring.
 20. The testing system according to claim 9, wherein the testing ring is a metal ring. 